Top executives at two of Wall Street’s largest banks on Monday struck an optimistic tone concerning the trajectory of the US economic system, arguing that buyers are in good monetary well being regardless of stark market indicators {that a} recession is looming.
Speaking as US equities had been sliding into bear market territory, Morgan Stanley chief government James Gorman stated that buyers had been forgetting that shopper and company steadiness sheets stay “very strong” following authorities stimulus through the coronavirus pandemic and years of low cost borrowing.
“I am totally relaxed about it. I don’t think we’re falling into some massive hole over the next few years,” Gorman stated at a monetary trade convention organised by Morgan Stanley.
He stated markets “aren’t in a very good position”, however that he’d somewhat have “markets off-kilter than the fundamentals driving consumer credit particularly off-kilter”.
Nearly 70 per cent of main tutorial economists polled by the Financial Times predict that the US economic system will tip right into a recession subsequent yr, because the Federal Reserve raises rates of interest in an effort to include the very best inflation in about 40 years.
Gorman estimated the probabilities of an impending recession at about 50 per cent, up from his earlier forecast for 30 per cent, however he performed down the chance that any downturn can be too punishing or long-lasting.
“I think eventually the Fed will get hold of inflation. It’s going to be bumpy. People’s 401(k) plans are going to be down this year, but we’re unlikely at this stage to go into a deeper, long recession,” Gorman stated.
His optimism was echoed by Alastair Borthwick, the chief monetary officer of Bank of America. He stated the financial institution, the US’s second-largest by property, was “still seeing very healthy balance sheets and healthy spending”, and that shopper spending up to now in June was up 9 per cent yr over yr.
And even with increased spending, Borthwick stated retail clients proceed to hoard money. As an instance, he stated clients who had account balances of $1,000-$2,500 earlier than the pandemic now had about seven instances that quantity.
“What we’re seeing right now, credit is in great shape,” he stated. “I’d expect it to bump around because we’re at such low levels. And one would think over time, it would trend back towards history, but we don’t see that right now.”
Source: www.ft.com